MEMBER OF POLICE BOARD QUITS AFTER SON'S ARREST

The newest member of the St. Louis Police Board is resigning after police
arrested his son on suspicion of marijuana possession.

Khatib Waheed made his announcement Tuesday, two weeks and a day after he
was sworn in and hours after he said the governor's office asked him to resign.

Waheed is a longtime social activist with many arrests, and the first black
Muslim named to the Police Board. His interim appointment angered some
officers, and the arrest of his son may have hurt his chances of being
confirmed in the state Senate.

Police arrested Waheed's son, Jabari Waheed, 18, and two other men Friday
night near Fairground Park. Police said they seized marijuana from Waheed
and crack cocaine from his companions, and booked all three on suspicion of
narcotics violations.

Jabari Waheed was the only one not charged.

Gov. Bob Holden said he had accepted Waheed's resignation but said he did
not ask for it.

"I did not talk to him. He offered and I accepted," Holden told reporters
during a trip to St. Louis.

Waheed said Greg Barnes, the governor's deputy chief of staff, called
Tuesday morning and asked him to resign over his son's arrest.

Before that phone call, Waheed told a reporter that he had no plans to resign.

Waheed said he then asked Barnes to intercede with the governor on his behalf:

"It seems like a rush to judgment to me. People are using (the arrest) to
drag my son down for making a mistake and to try to deny me an opportunity
to serve the community with honor and integrity.

"I don't deny the fact that my son made a serious mistake. But I feel like
I can overcome this and serve effectively on the board," said Waheed, 49.
He spoke by phone from Chicago, where he was on business.

After talking a second time with the governor's office, Waheed spoke again
with a reporter. This time, he said he had decided to resign.

"I don't want to embarrass the governor," Waheed said. "He's got too many
important issues - a major budget, national and state security, school
issues - too much stuff going on for him to be taking hits in the Senate on
this. In the grander scheme, my appointment isn't the biggest thing on his
plate."

A few hours later, Holden met with reporters.

"Unfortunately," he said, "drugs are a tragedy in many families. I think,
at a time like this, he needs to spend time with his family. It is a
position on the St. Louis Police Board, and there can be no inference about
how that job is to be handled.

"He has offered to resign and I have accepted it. He leaves at his time. I
respect his decision."

Appointment Upset Officers

When Holden named Waheed to the board on Nov. 20, he said he was aware of
his history as a longtime activist with a record of arrests for social
protests.

The appointment proved to be a flashpoint in the Police Department,
according to Gary Wiegert, who leads the St. Louis Police Officers
Association. The 1,100-member group serves as an unofficial police union
for rank-and-file officers.

Wiegert said some officers resented having to answer to someone they once
had to arrest. Wiegert also said he feared Waheed would make it hard for
police to do their jobs at protests.

After Waheed's resignation, Wiegert said: "It's too bad for this guy, but
I'm glad, actually, that we don't have to worry about an activist being on
the board."

Other police groups, including representatives of the Ethical Society of
Police and the St. Louis Police Fraternal Organization, had offered Waheed
wholehearted support.

Waheed's confirmation as police commissioner required confirmation from the
Republican-controlled Missouri Senate. The Senate panel that screens
gubernatorial appointments clashed frequently this year with Holden, a
Democrat, over his picks.

Pending that confirmation, he had been serving since Nov. 26 as interim
successor to Dr. Leslie Bond. If ratified, Waheed would have served until 2005.

Waheed said he was attending a business retreat in Florida on Saturday when
his son called to break the news.

His version of what his son told him matched the department's account and
warrant information on file.

Prosecutors Decline Charges

Jabari Waheed and two companions were arrested at 9:25 p.m. Friday in the
4100 block of Peck Avenue, just east of Fairground Park. Police said an
officer saw a parked car, smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the
window and questioned the three.

Police seized substances from all three and booked them on suspicion of
narcotics violations. They also seized the car, a 1993 Taurus owned by
Khatib Waheed, which his son had driven.

Police said laboratory analysis confirmed that the substances were
narcotics, and investigators submitted the case to the office of Circuit
Attorney Jennifer Joyce.

She said her assistants refused to charge Jabari Waheed because of his age,
lack of a police record and the small amount of marijuana - 1.72 grams - he
allegedly had possessed.

"That's less than what you need to roll a marijuana cigarette," Joyce said.
"With that amount, what we look at is age and whether you have a prior
history."

She said that was her office policy in such cases. She said she didn't
learn of a political connection until Tuesday and said her assistant who
issued the warrants never knew of it.

"I don't really even know his father, other than I know who he is," Joyce
said. "Who he is had nothing to do with this."

Her office did issue warrants Saturday on the other two men in the Taurus.

Nicholas McClanahan, 19, of the 2900 block of Kossuth Avenue, was charged
with felony possession of a controlled substance, allegedly for having 0.3
grams of crack cocaine. Joshua Hollingworth, 23, of the 3000 block of Lee
Avenue, was charged with the more serious felony of narcotics trafficking,
allegedly for having 5.5 grams of crack cocaine, including one rock wrapped
in a $1 bill.

Khatib Waheed said his first contact with police after the incident was on
Monday morning, when he said Police Chief Joe Mokwa called him about the
incident.

"It may sound silly, maybe even unbelievable, but it didn't even cross my
mind to call anybody in the department about this," Waheed said, adding
that he wanted to let justice take its course with no outside interference.

Mokwa defended the decision not to charge Waheed's son.

Mokwa said the department returned the Taurus to Waheed because the arrest
was the son's first.

"Not only was nothing inappropriately done, Khatib Waheed insisted that his
son receive no preferential treatment," Mokwa said.

Eddie Roth, the Police Board vice president, said Waheed deserved a better
fate.

"He is an extraordinarily fine man who would have made an outstanding
contribution to this department," Roth said. "But for the grace of God goes
any parent of teen-age children in every part of our community."